Outdoor Adventurer Living in Vancouver, BC

Outdoor Adventurer Living in Vancouver, BC

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“I don’t believe you can truly conquer a mountain; if you climb her, it’s only because she let you.” These words sent chills up and down my spine as I stared back at her. 8 months of training, fundraising, and preparing has lead me to what we will begin in 4 hours time and I’m already feeling tired and defeated. I suppose I should have a word with her. ‘There are 18 type 1 diabetics wishing to summit by daybreak,’ I thought, ‘please give us the strength to summit…

Last September, when I signed up to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro, I made a point of focusing on the little things through my training. Every walk, run, hike, heavy leg day, protein shake, carb load, blood sugar check, blood sugar correction, and so on was a calculated step towards the trip; even if I didn’t see it at the time. We’re almost 3 days away from leaving and I’m finally starting to feel ready. I spent a little while reflecting tonight on all of my hikes over the last…

The idea was to get into high altitude for Kilimanjaro training and Ryan’s been wanting to take me here for a little while. Aside from a trip or two in the Shulaps, I haven’t spent much time in areas quite like this – lack of vegetation, exposed rock, beautiful ridge walks, and the backcountry in general. Knowing this is one of Ryan’s favourite areas, I expected a lot in terms of terrain and views and I was surprised to see he somewhat understated the area. The views were absolutely…

Favourite Quote

“You can’t stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this – what is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There’s an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.”